DUBAI // A member of a gang that tried to steal electrical cables from a du signal station but ran off when they spotted a security guard, has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Dubai Criminal Court convicted the 22-year-old Pakistani of theft.
On April 18, 2015, the gang stopped their van near the du station in Jebel Ali at about 4pm and broke the lock to gain entry.
They started cutting cables and loading them into their van when a security guard who was patrolling the area spotted them.
“They left everything behind, even the vehicle, and ran away,” said the Nepalese guard, 35, who called police.
The vehicle had a stolen licence plate but DNA from a cigarette butt found inside later led officers to the defendant, who by that time he was in jail for another theft case.
“We questioned him and he denied taking part in the incident but when we confronted him with the DNA evidence, he confessed and said his role was to keep guard for the men until they loaded the stolen cables,” said an Emirati policeman.
He said the other men could not be identified because he only knew their first names. They are still at large.
The defendant denied a charge of theft when he appeared in court in November last year, however, he was found guilty and will be deported after serving his prison term.
salamir@thenational.ae
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
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Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
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Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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